Yummy FTP controls file transferral using encoding and file replacement policies that are completely customizable.
There are several methods in which files are transferred using FTP: Binary, ASCII and MacBinary. These are known as encodings and each file to be transferred may require a different encoding in order for it to be successfully transferred. Each encoding is usually used for specific types of files. For example, ASCII encoding would normally be used for plain text files.
Each encoding can be selected manually, using the 'Encoding' option in the 'Transfer' menu, This setting applies to all files transferred until the setting is changed.
The correct encoding for each file can be automatically chosen by Yummy FTP if the 'Automatic' option is chosen from the 'Transfer; menu. This is the default setting and is recommended unless a manual override is required.
The Automatic encoding feature relies on the Suffix Mapping table, described below, in order to determine encodings for various types of files. If a file does not transfer correctly due to an incorrect automatic encoding selection, or a new file type needs to be configured, the Suffix Mapping table can be edited to cater for this.
Since it is likely that one or more files to be transferred already exist or have the same names in the destination, a file replacement policy must be used. This governs how these situation should be dealt with, and can be selected using the 'Mode' option in the 'Transfer' menu. One of three policies may be chosen:
This is the default policy and it presents a window which describes the two (or more) files that match in the source and destination of a transfer, offering the choices to replace or skip them. Additionally, if the destination file is of a lesser size than the source file an option to resume the transfer will be given. This policy is configurable in that the default behavior can be modified to always ask/replace/skip or resume (if possible) and can be configured separately for uploads and downloads.
The default policy can be modified by editing the 'Upload Options' and 'Download Options' within the 'Transfers' tab of the Preferences window, as shown below.
This policy is designed to avoid replacing files at all. Whenever a file to be transferred already exists in the destination, the transferred file is assigned a unique name. This option will affect both files on your Mac as well as on the Server.
Care should be taken with this option, since some servers are unable to process the commands required to create uniquely named files. If this is the case, the Server will usually report an error similar to 'Command not understood'.
The default policy can be modified by editing the 'Upload Options' and 'Download Options' within the 'Transfers' tab of the Preferences window, as shown below.
Whenever a file to be transferred already exists in the destination, this policy will always replace the file without warning. It should be used with care, but can be useful if you are confident to do so.
The Suffix Mapping table is used to determine which encoding to use for each file to be transferred when Automatic encoding has been selected. It is also used to govern what happens after a file has been downloaded, for example opening with Stuffit Expander to expand an archive, and also to determine the icons of files that are displayed in the Server browser.
To display the Suffix Mapping table, select the 'Suffix Mapping' option from the 'Transfer' menu.
Each entry in the Suffix Mapping table has four basic settings:
These settings are used to determine the correct encoding during transfers in the following way:
During uploads, only Suffix Mapping entries which are set for Uploads or Uploads and Downloads are considered.
Each Suffix Mapping entry can be configured to add missing suffixes automatically. This feature can be turned on or off for all entries regardless of their setting by using the 'Add suffixes' checkbox in the Global settings area.
Each Suffix Mapping entry can be configured whether to consider the file's Mac OS Type and Creator when determining the correct encoding. If this is not selected, step 2 of the decision process is skipped for the Suffix Mapping entry.
During downloads, only Suffix Mapping entries which are set for Downloads or Uploads and Downloads are considered.
Each Suffix Mapping entry can be configured to post-process the file with an external application, which is usually used with Stuffit archives or Disk Images to automatically expand the downloaded file, or mount the disk image respectively. This feature can be turned on or off for all entries regardless of their setting by using the 'Post-process downloads' checkbox in the Global settings area.
The Suffix Mapping table can also be used to determine the correct icon and file kind to be associated with files displayed in the Server browser.
For each file that is added to the Server browser, the Suffix Mapping table is scanned for a file name suffix match. If a match is found, the icon and file kind associated with the file is set to that specified in the File Properties section of the entry.
If no match is found, the default icon and file kind used in the Finder is associated with that file.
By default, the Suffix Mapping table is not used for this information and the default icon and file kind used in the Finder is associated with that file.
The 'Only use System mapping for icons' checkbox in the Global settings are controls this behavior.
The Suffix Mapping table provides a means of associating a particular file name extension, such as .jpg, with a preferred editor application of your choice, for example Graphic Converter. This is achieved by the use of the 'Use as default editor' checkbox in the 'Downloading / Editing' pane of the suffix entry editor. The screenshot shows an example of this.
To configure a particular suffix for editing with a particular application, select the suffix entry in the list, press the Choose App button and locate the application. After you have enabled the 'Use as default editor' checkbox, press the Save button.
Note that if there is more than one entry for a particular suffix then each one will need to be configured the same way. Also note that the icon displayed next to the chosen application may not be that of the application if 'Only use System mappings for icons' is enabled.
Although the Suffix Mapping table offers a wealth of functionality and flexibility, it is possible that the user has pre-configured the mapping table that is built into Mac OS X. This table is inherited from the Internet Config (later known as Internet Control Panel) settings from Mac OS 9. This table can be used instead of the one built into Yummy FTP by selecting the 'Use System Preferences suffix mappings' checkbox within the Global settings area. If this is chosen, all the Suffix Mapping functionality is delegated to the OS supplied table instead.
Since there is no Apple provided user interface to modify the System Preferences suffix mapping table, we recommend an application named 'MisFox' which will allow this. The application is freeware and can be downloaded from the following URL: http://www.clauss-net.de/misfox/misfox.html
The Suffix Mapping table display is divided into two areas. The list of mappings is displayed on the left and the settings for each mapping entry is displayed on the right. Clicking on an entry in the list will display its settings on the right.
Click on the entry to be modified in the list on the left, then adjust the settings displayed to the right. When the modifications are complete, press the Save button on the right. No modifications will be saved unless the Save button is pressed. To undo any changes, press the Revert button.
Click on the Add button on the left. The suffix mapping settings area on the right will all set empty. Configure the entry as required and then press the Save button to add the new entry.
Click on the entry in the list to be removed and then press the Remove button
The Suffix Mapping table can be reverted to the settings that were set as default when Yummy FTP was first installed by pressing the Defaults button on the left.